'Citizens for Our Healthy Community' will meet to address local concerns

Tuesday

Oct 16, 2012 at 9:22 AM

Community activists Anne Horsham, Jack Austin, Valerie Majinsky and Heather Beebe will moderate a discussion on the future of the Bon Secours maternity unit at a "Citizens for Our Healthy Community" meeting, set for 3 p.m. Sunday, at Deerpark Reformed Church.

Jessica Cohen

Community activists Anne Horsham, Jack Austin, Valerie Majinsky and Heather Beebe will moderate a discussion on the future of the Bon Secours maternity unit at a "Citizens for Our Healthy Community" meeting, set for 3 p.m. Sunday, at Deerpark Reformed Church.

Also at the meeting, A. Robin Martineau of Wickham Church will recruit volunteers for a new Port Jervis drug abuse task force the activists recruited him to lead, as recommended by Police Chief Bill Worden.

"We're hoping for a real discussion about the maternity unit, with all parties at the table," says Horsham, who said she is still waiting for replies to invitations sent to hospital and state health department administrators. "I don't think it's too much to ask. They're having discussions. I hope they'll see this as an opportunity to come and talk to us."

Bon Secours administrators are in talks with health department administrators about how the maternity unit might be closed without jeopardizing the health of Port Jervis women and their babies, according to Peter Constantakes, health department spokesperson.

Closing the Bon Secours maternity unit is opposed by the activists and, so far, the state health department.

"We'll be clear there are two issues, Bon Secours and the drug abuse task force," says Martineau. "People can work on both issues, but by choice — two separate issues working in harmony."

The new Port Jervis drug abuse task force will be aimed at "mentoring people," rather than rigid law enforcement, says Martineau, who was previously director of Daytop Village Inc., a residential drug treatment facility in Mendham, N.J. "Otherwise you end up preaching to the choir."

In May, a meeting on local drug abuse, also held at Deerpark Reformed Church, attracted 70 people and strong expressions of interest in a coalition to address it.

At that time, Worden told the crowd that 26 people had died from drug overdoses in the past year and that burglary, robbery, and fraud had increased as result of drug addicts trying to support their habit.

Now, Martineau says, "I'm looking for volunteers from schools, churches, hospitals, probation, parole, and the community at large to drive the task force and form committees." He plans to have committees devoted to communications, community relations, resources, treatment opportunities, funding and education.

"The goal is to reduce the amount of drug abuse in the community and make this a safer place to raise a family," said Martineau. He said he plans to determine success by measuring current substance abuse levels, using a survey from a national database, to see how much of the local problem is consistent with conditions in the rest of the country.

Then, he says, "we'll look for changes in numbers and see if we're attaining our goal. We'll have think-tank opportunities within the task force, and other citizens can contribute ideas and point out neglected areas."

Martineau said he plans to collect contact information from volunteers on Sunday, and then meet with them before Thanksgiving to form committees and establish "missions and visions" and designate tasks.

"I look forward to having younger people involved, maybe for extra credit in health class," Martineau says. "The young instill change via Facebook and Twitter. And we'll recruit people in recovery who want to help the community."

Martineau noted that at 6 p.m. Sunday, eight local pastors, including him, who have been holding prayer groups, praying for the community, will have a nondenominational community service at the First Baptist Church.

"These events just happened to coincide," he said. "But these are things we've been praying for, to address these issues, with the community getting activated, not angry."